Chocolate Covered Strawberries
by 0Atwood0
Summary: Ryan cooks dinner for Marissa, but can he and Seth stay out of trouble? “What else did you cook? Salad, linguini, …FONDUE!” Seth stared wideeyed at Ryan. “You have chocolate fondue? I love fondue. I didn’t know we had a fondue machine.”


_Chocolate Covered Strawberries_

Written for OCFC #2. Prompt: Stop. Drop. _And Roll._

Disclaimer: Alas, I claim no ownership of the characters or networks mentioned below. If you would like to sue me for my season DVDs, be my guest. I would gladly hand over season three and erase the memory of several people from my mind.

A/N: This piece is set in what I would like to believe _could have been_ 'senior year'. Devoid of skinny surfers, unnecessary expulsions, and infuriating hippies, Ryan and Marissa probably would have turned out to be a relatively happy couple; enjoying life, being teenagers, gasp having fun. Unfortunately, the higher powers had different plans. But pretend for me that none of that bad stuff happened, and enjoy the rare bout of fluff that this piece most certainly is. Anyways, I claim to have no knowledge of cooking or possession of any culinary skills; although I do enjoy a good fondue.

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Seth Cohen was in a good mood. Actually, scratch that. He was in an _excellent_ mood. It was Friday night, his parents had left for the weekend on some 'romantic getaway' or God knows what; and to top it all off, he was heading over towards an empty house to see his girlfriend, which for reasons unbeknownst to him had become a rarity these days. With a carefree whistle, Seth sauntered down the stairs ready to leave for the night, when he was hit with a dizzying aroma of delectable cooking; a feat that rarely occurred in his household.

Drumming the tops of his thighs, he veered towards the kitchen, his curiosity getting the best of him. A wide smirk on his lips, Seth leaned against the door jam, hands in his pockets, watching as Ryan, surrounded with various pans, strainers, bowls, plates, and cutlery, scooped linguini out of a stainless steel pot and into two pasta bowls. "What's this?" Seth questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the blonde.

"What does it look like?" Ryan countered without even turning his head, bracing himself for the oncoming attack that he knew Seth was mentally preparing as they spoke. Rinsing the pot, he quickly whipped open the dishwasher and strategically maneuvered it in beside all of the other plates and bowls that he had used.

"It looks like Rachael Ray took over our kitchen." He quipped, hopping up on the island in the middle of their kitchen and picking a slice of tomato out of the beautifully mixed salad that he had taken a seat next to.

"You watch too much _Food Network_." Ryan shook his head and smiled wryly, carrying the two pasta bowls over to the dining room table, positioning them at their correct place settings.

"Apparently I'm not the only one." He teased with raised eyebrows, surveying the kitchen and dining room area. "Oooh, candlelight dinner Ryan? Very fancy." Seth sent an over-exaggerated wink towards his brother, and was greeted with a glare that could've sent him out the front door if he wasn't having so much fun teasing the poor guy.

"I'm cooking dinner for me and Marissa, Seth." Ryan stated simply, ignoring the 'whipped' noise that had emanated from Seth's extremely large mouth, complete with accompanying hand gestures. "Aren't you supposed to be meeting Summer anyway? Come on, Marissa is supposed to be here any minute." Ryan urged, trying to shoo the brunette out of the house for the evening.

"This is true." Seth concurred. But he was easily sidetracked. "What else did you cook? Salad, linguini, …FONDUE?!" Seth stared wide-eyed at Ryan. "You have chocolate fondue? I _love_ fondue. I didn't know we had a fondue machine." Seth rambled, clearly fascinated with the tiny machine circulating milk chocolate in what appeared to be a fountain-esque structure.

"We don't. Summer lent it to me." Ryan frowned, slapping the back of Seth's head when he went to stick his finger in the chocolate. "Don't touch." He warned, heating oil, garlic, and some other ingredients in a large frying pan on the stove.

"Wow, you've really got the works here. Strawberries, pretzels, bananas, _marshmallows_. Can't I just have one?" Seth whined.

"If I let you have one will you get out of the house please?" Ryan bargained, raising an eyebrow. He heard a successful sizzle as he tossed the shrimp into the pan along with the rest of the ingredients.

"What are you doing?" Seth mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate covered marshmallow, watching as Ryan wrapped a white dishrag around the handle of the pan, and held a bottle of white wine in the other hand.

"Marissa likes shrimp scampi." Ryan explained, "It's just easier if I flambé the shrimp, they cook faster." He shrugged, gently shifting the pan over the burner.

"What's flambé?" Seth questioned, nearly jumping halfway across the kitchen as Ryan sloshed some wine into the pan and the entire thing went up in flames. As Ryan shifted the shrimp within the pan, the flames died down and he moved the entire thing to a different burner.

Wide eyed, Seth gaped at his brother. "That's _crazy_. I didn't know you could do that. Where did you learn how to do that?" Ryan shrugged modestly, and Seth glanced down at the pan full of shrimp once more.

"Uh, Ryan." Seth said nervously, his brown eyes whipping up to meet deep blue ones.

"Hmm?"

"The dishrag is on fire."

"Crap." Ryan cursed, quickly flinging the towel away from the open flame on the stovetop, and onto the floor. Desperately trying to stamp it out, he seemed to be failing miserably as the whole thing was nearly up in flames, and Seth frantically stuck his foot out to help quell the rapidly spreading fire.

"Shit!" Ryan bellowed, waving his leg around; the hem of his khaki pants was now aflame, and showed no sign of extinguishing any time soon. "Seth, help me!" He pleaded, trying to refrain from getting burned too badly, not even hearing the doorbell chime in the background.

Glancing up from his stomping, he noticed Ryan hopping around the kitchen on one leg. "Shit!" He laughed out at the hilarity of the situation, still trying to smother the dishrag. "Stop, drop, and roll Ryan! STOP. DROP. _AND ROLL!_"

"_Fuck!_ Get some water Seth! Come on!" Ryan yelled frantically, clearly panicking seeing as how the fire was now spreading up his pants leg. He started undoing his belt buckle out of desperation, fumbling with the holes and loops.

Now that the dishrag was successfully turned into a pile of ash, albeit an extinguished pile of ash, Seth bounded towards the sink, turning the cold water on full blast. He looked down in a panic, hoping for a dirty cup or bowl to transport the water in, but Ryan, being the neat freak that he was, had apparently put all of them in the dishwasher.

As Ryan struggled to get his leg out of his pants, Seth decided that he could waste no more time in search of dishware. Cupping his hands, he thrust them under the faucet and attempted to use his hands as a bowl, the water seeping through his fingers before he even made it over the counter. In a frenzied last resort, Seth began throwing the water from his cupped hands onto Ryan's pants, where the tiny droplets did little to repress the flames.

With a grunt, Ryan finally got his leg far enough out of his pants so that Seth could stomp on the fabric forcefully, making sure that he suppressed the flames in an ample amount of time. Seth slammed his foot against the floor, Ryan took in deep, heavy breaths, as if he had just escaped an unsettling death, and neither of them had noticed the onlooker that had entered the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Marissa questioned with a small smile on her face, perplexed and amused all at once. Surveying the scene in front of her, Ryan stood half in, half out of his pants, in a frazzled mess, Seth gripped the edge of the countertop, breathing as if he had just run a marathon, and the wonderful aroma of shrimp scampi filled the air.

Holding a finger up in the air, Seth paused dramatically. "Ryan's pants were on fire."

Marissa's eyes widened, and she soon collapsed in a fit of laughter, looking on at her dismayed boyfriend.

"I can't believe this." Ryan moaned, disheartened.

"I just saved your life!" Seth exclaimed, snickering as Ryan rolled his eyes.

"I hate you Seth" Ryan deadpanned, staring him in the face.

"Liar, liar pants on fire." Seth barely choked out over his own laughter, making his way out of the house.

Marissa snorted, clapping her hands over her mouth in a sorry attempt to prevent peels of laughter from echoing through the kitchen.

"Just get out." Ryan tried to be stern, but couldn't fight the small smile forming on his lips.

Disappointed, Ryan glanced around the kitchen at his failed attempt of a romantic evening. Marissa softly kissed him, pressing her plump lips into his own, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Aww, you cooked." She cooed, a dazzling smile lighting up her gorgeous face as she pinched his cheek.

"I tried." He said witheringly, with a downcast look. "Let me go put on some pants." He sighed, moving to pull away from her, looking up in surprise when she held him next to her by the elastic of his maroon boxers. He glanced at her questioningly, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Keep them off." She suggested devilishly, trailing kisses along the underside of his jaw. Pulling away, she almost threw her head back in laughter at the little boy pout on his face.

"But I cooked…" He trailed off, his eyes wide, worrying that all his work and preparation would go to waste.

"I know." The blonde smiled wryly, returning her lips to his neck. "And it will taste even better afterwards." She whispered seductively, flicking her tongue against his earlobe, causing him to nearly collapse. "Our post-sex meals are always incredible." She continued, trying to persuade him.

Clearing his throat, he tried to regain some composure. "This is true." He agreed wryly, inching his fingers underneath the hem of her shirt, aching to feel her bare skin underneath his fingertips.

"Come on." She grasped his hand, leading him towards the patio. "Oooh!" Marissa suddenly caught sight of something rather spectacular. "Fondue!" She smiled gleefully, sticking a piece of fruit into the flowing fountain of milk chocolaty goodness. "Chocolate covered strawberry?" Marissa offered innocently, extending her hand towards Ryan's mouth and watching as he took a small bite.

Finishing off the rest, she felt Ryan wrap his arms around her body, burying his face into her neck and planting steaming kisses along her collarbone. "You want anything else?" She questioned, her eyes fluttering closed as his mouth worked its magic on her exposed skin. Hearing a mumbled 'no' escape his lips, she quirked her eyebrow, a small smile forming on her lips and an idea formulating in her head.

"You sure?" She asked again, dipping her fingers into the pool of chocolate. A muffled 'yes' made its way to her ears, but she pressed on. "Not even if it was…this?" Marissa smeared the chocolate on her fingers against the side of Ryan's face.

Lifting his head from Marissa's chest, he stared blankly at her, chocolate all over his face, watching as she tried to contain another bout of laughter. "You," he started "are so dead." He broke out into a dazzling grin, making a reach for her, but Marissa eluded him, running out the kitchen doors and into the pool house, Ryan trailing close behind.

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_Finito._


End file.
